Hello! It's late, I know. My apologies. But, once again, I had to wait until my break at work to upload. As always, my thanks to all of you for your reviews and I hope you continue to enjoy. Do expect some big progressions plot wise very soon!

Once again, a big thank you to BK2U who always works so diligently at this. She surely saves me from all sorts of horrors. Next update, theoretically, will be on Thursday. But I've got nursing school stuff to get together and I'm pretty positive the kids are going to have off today due to snow so it may not quite be on time. I'll try my best though! Let me know what you guys think

Mid-afternoon Mondays are not common occurrences for Tobias, at least not the outdoor variety of them. He's entirely too accustomed to how Mondays look from behind office doors and through windows fifty stories up. The difference, as he steps from the front door of his apartment complex and onto the sidewalk, is not lost on him. Weekday afternoons, he soon discovers, are reserved for toddlers and infants, fast walking businessmen and women, and occasional college students with their noses buried in textbooks while they walk.

At first, both Tris and Tobias had been entirely lost as to how they would proceed. There had been enough shifting feet and awkward stares to last both of them a lifetime, or seven.

"First things first," he declares after they'd resorted to dusting as a morning activity. "We're getting you a key."

"But-" she begins to protest almost immediately. Tobias can already hear her argument along with the indignation in her tone before she even has a chance to get started.

He cuts her off quickly. "This is your home as much as it is mine," he says softly. "You deserve to be able to come and go as you please."

Though he doesn't doubt her instinct is to argue further, what he sees instead is the welling of tears in her eyes and the way she looks away quickly after. "Well, don't come crying to me when you've been robbed blind," she retorts after a full minute, her usual tone of vexation tinting the comment.

So they venture forth, preparing to face the cold Monday afternoon together. With February nearly over, however, a rare warm day has surprisingly appeared. Suddenly, their layered clothing seems not only superfluous, but downright silly.

Tobias watches Tris as they walk. In an attempt to enlighten himself, he tries to envision just how she is seeing the world. He watches the way her eyes light up as they walk past a puppy running circles around its owner's ankles, or how her gaze lingers on the elaborately decorated cakes in the bakery window. He notices when her eyes catch on a large flock of blackbirds flying overhead, nothing distinctive or special about them aside from their number. Their sheer mass catches her attention enough that she pauses in her stride and stares upward, mouth open in awe. The world is an entirely different place through her eyes. He doesn't know if he is enamoured or envious of how she views the life that swirls all around her in chaotic strokes.

"Can I ask you a question?" she inquires after several minutes of silence, linking her arm through his as they walk. The gesture warms him even further through his heavy layers.

"Shoot," he responds with a shrug. There isn't much left he could possibly feel a need to hide from her. Somehow her curiosity has shifted from troublesome to endearing.

"Why don't you ever drive?" She turns to watch him, her gaze intent on his face as they continue walking forward.

The reasoning he's always used sounds so stupid in his own head. Tobias can't even imagine admitting it out loud. "I don't know," he answers instead, trying to make it sound like he has never even considered it. But Tris's gaze remains on his face, because of course she knows that he has a reason. Of course she knows this. Again, annoyance and endearment battle it out over this looming revelation. "I guess…Well, I suppose it's because nothing else is really mine, you know? Like, to drive in my car is actually to drive in my dad's car with his satellite radio and using the gas he pays for. But walking to and from places…that's all me."

Again, it sounds so stupid as he tries to explain it. A part of him just wants to hang his head and tell her to forget it. But the look on her face is not judgmental or disapproving. She smiles gently like he has given an answer even better than she could have imagined. He bumps his shoulder against hers, trying to dismiss the conversation and allow it to evaporate up into the sky so that it might fly away along with the birds.

"Well I'm glad you do," she answers back, her shoulder bumping against his in playful retaliation.

"You do?" he questions. Honestly, he wonders why she hasn't requested they take his car a little more often. It isn't like she hasn't had more than her fair share of the outdoors and walking wherever she might want or need to go.

"Mhm," she muses. "You ought to exercise your independence a little more often, you know."

His first instinct is to defend himself with an argument, but Tobias swallows it down and simply decides to accept her words for what they are. "Yeah, yeah." The look she shoots him says that his response is still not quite good enough.

No one else in Tobias' life, past or present, had ever attempted to break through his defences. His truths had never before been siphoned from the deepest reserves of his memory. Nor had Tobias ever thought it could feel so good to have another soul know them. The weight of a broken little boy has been lifted from his chest. He no longer has to carry around the past like a ball and chain behind him. At least, not when she is by his side. But it is still difficult for him to adjust himself to being open and honest, and sharing everything inside him with someone.

"I mean it," she insists another moment later as Tobias holds the door to the local hardware shop for her. "You have so much potential."

"Tris," he sighs as he enters the store behind her, breathing in the smell of wood and plastic. "Let's not."

Her eyes are daggers in response, but she refrains from commenting further. Instead her attention is focused on the small bulletin board that displays the types of keys available. Everything from classical silver to Mickey Mouse keys are at their disposal. Tris looks at them as if they might all jump off the board and attack her.

As she makes no move to select one he does it for her, going with plain and simple rather than rhinestones or Disney characters. It doesn't take more than a minute or two before the old shop worker is back, holding out the brand new key to them.

Tris eyes it suspiciously, her hand half-outstretched to take it. "What if I lose it?" she asks anxiously.

Tobias shrugs. "Then we make another one." Lord knows he's lost his key on more than one occasion. He reaches out and takes the key himself, offering it to her. "I want you to have it."

That comment is enough to quash the debate and she takes the key from his outstretched hand, examining it in her own. "Well, thank you," she breathes out, her eyes speaking for her more than her words. Their eyes meet and the significance of the moment is clearly not lost on either of them. "I haven't had a key in a very long time," she whispers softly.

Unknowingly, his entire body leans closer to hers. Tobias knows exactly what she means. It's not just a key that she has been lacking, but a home. He takes her chin in his hand, forcing her to look over at him, ignoring the shop owner who is probably wishing they would move away from his counter already. Tobias tells her, "It's your home now, too, okay? No more running, right?"

She offers him a small, sad smile before replying, "No more running." Her tone isn't strong, but her words are definitive. He can only hope that means her mind is made up for good. After another moment they both pull away, finding an appropriate amount of space between them again as Tris pockets the key. "Doesn't mean I don't still think you're insane, though."

You win some, you lose some.

At least that's what he reasons as he stares down at her cheeky smile. But it's when she reaches to clasp his hand in hers as they exit the shop that Tobias realises just how much he has truly won.

Once they arrive back home the sun has warmed the air sufficiently that Tris goes about opening the windows and curtains wide, something Tobias has never bothered doing. The fresh air begins to circulate immediately. He breathes it in as if it has some sort of healing properties.

The space is transformed as natural light gathers in and the smell switches from industrialised, recycled air to the fresh scent of the outdoors that, although smelling slightly of gas exhaust, also contains hints of grass.

"Whenever my mother thought one of us had a bad day or needed to cheer up she'd do this," Tris confides to him, turning her face up to soak in as much of the warm sunlight as possible. "It made everything so much better."

"Are you suggesting I've had a bad day?" Tobias asks with an eyebrow raised. True, it may not have started out too splendidly, but this day is quickly shaping up to be one of the best.

But Tris just shakes her head in response, turning away from her beloved sunlight to face him instead. "I'm saying this apartment is filled with a whole lot of bad."

"So you're cleansing my aura?" he asks with an incredulous tone.

Tris laughs in response and he swears the darkness retreats from the sound alone. "Exactly."

He kisses her, quickly but lovingly. In part because he can, and too, because he loves the idea of someone finally helping him clear out all of the bad.

Neither of them is able to tolerate merely sitting around. The TV isn't even touched as they diverge to do their own tasks. Tobias plops himself on the couch, his partnership agreement from Tori in one hand and an ice pack in the other. Worry chases away any excitement he may have over the offer. The tingly, numbing feeling the ice creates reminds him why he must temper any further joy.

Tori's offer is great; spectacular even. In fact, it's exactly what he needs. The only problem is, he doesn't think he can do it. Somehow, he's managed to make it this far by simply stumbling around blindly in his life, but will that really work when he is actually running things, making important decisions, and being looked to as a leader? He's convinced that one of the constants in his life is how completely incompetent he has always been.

The other constant has been his father, forever cleaning up his messes. His father essentially paid for him to get through school, and had someone make all his meals and clean the house. Hell, even his friends had mostly been made through his connection with his father. His job is because of his father, even the fact that his damned apartment has furniture in it is only because of the decorators Marcus hired. Tobias' entire life is composed of the things his father has helped him obtain. How in the hell is he supposed to do anything without that man?

So he just flips the papers, front to back and back to front. He doesn't really see any of the words on the pages as his mind is entirely filled with his petty, foolish fears. Shouldn't he be concerned with food shortages and North Korean invasions? Instead, he's fretting over who will pay his cell phone bill.

Perhaps that just reaffirms how selfish he is. On top of it everything else, Tobias feels almost certain he will never be able to do anything right. He doesn't have the smarts or the business knowledge or the people skills. Useless. He's utterly useless.

Tris interrupts his self-flagellating thoughts, demanding all of his attention as she begins laying out newspapers and notebooks and scrap sheets of paper. In her hand is an assortment of markers and highlighters. She offers him a red Sharpie.

"What the hell is this?" he asks, scanning over what she's just spread along his entire coffee table. It doesn't take a genius to answer his question. Help Wanted ads. "…Tris?"

She smiles sheepishly. "Don't be mad." It's hard to see how he could be as he starts to put the pieces together. She's spent the last however many hours searching and circling and highlighting dozens of different job positions. All for him. "I know anything you take is going to be a giant pay cut, but that's okay. I grew up in a household that budgeted. I can teach you."

In complete awe of what she has done for him, Tobias just stares for a long moment before quietly whispering her name again. He is no longer in awe of her actions as his eyes meet hers. He is in awe of her. "Tris…"

"And I know you don't want to talk about your dad and stuff, but you can't keep living like this." She crosses her arms in front of her chest, suddenly looking extremely determined. "It's about time you stop being so damned scared and just…try." She kneels on the floor next to the coffee table, her hands already digging through the piles of papers.

In a previous time and place he might have been offended by her actions and words, but today there is no hardness in his heart over this. Only affection. Tobias knows the sacrifices she is making by saying these things to him. "Tris-"

"Okay, so I circled in red the jobs that you might actually want. Meaning business-y stuff, and they all have a pretty decent starting salary." She hands him a hand-printed page out of her notebook. "I found most of these online." He looks over her haphazard, yet somehow still precise handwriting. There are red and green circles all over the page along with neon highlighted sections. "I used the orange highlighter on stuff that's out of the area but still looks worthwhile. The green I used for jobs you'll need to go back to school for, and the pink highlighter is for the ones with low starting salaries but promising advancement potential."

He stares for a very long moment, waiting to be sure she's finished before trying to speak. Finally, her lips shut tightly and she sits on the ground, using her legs as a cushion as she stares at him hopefully. "This is…" he starts, shaking his head. "It's really wonderful, what you've done," her answering smile exudes pride. "But I should have told you a long time ago…I actually have a job offer that's kind of perfect."

For a brief second he wonders if she'll be mad, after all the work she has just put into this job hunt. But of course not, her face breaks into the widest smile as she clambers from her spot on the floor to sit next to him. "Well, let me see!" she insists.

Tobias hands her the packet without comment and she stares at it for a long few minutes, flipping through it slowly. "Okay, so not my forte, but what I'm gathering is that they're offering you a lot of money to do a job that's similar to what you do now, but…your father won't be there?"

When she frames it like that, Tobias can hardly believe he hasn't accepted it already. "Well, the actual job description is quite a bit better, too."

Tris's hand reaches out and swats him in his chest before he can react. "Why didn't you say something sooner?" she demands, her eyes flicking back to scan the contract again.

All he can do is shrug in response. As much as he trusts Tris, he hardly wants to spill every miserable, pathetic insecurity that constantly cycles through his mind. "I don't know."

"This is wonderful!" she exclaims, plopping the stack of papers down on the coffee table as she turns to throw her arms around his neck. "I knew everything would work out," she mumbles against his ear. "Admittedly, not quite so quickly," she adds with a grin as she pulls away.

There's something about her untethered joy that sparks Tobias's own feelings of hope. The doubt lingers, but with Tris about to do cartwheels in his living room, he can hardly be bothered to think twice about it. "I can probably get you a job there, too, you know? I will kind of be a boss, after all."

Though her smile remains in place, Tobias doesn't miss how it flickers for a moment, the enthusiasm fading from her face to be replaced with forced happiness. "That won't work," she dismisses quickly.

It only seems right to offer Tris the same sort of support she has just offered him. "What? Of course it would! You're a natural at this stuff, Tris. The work you've been doing on this charity project is definitely professional quality."

Her smile remains kind, but her eyes cloud over. "Thank you, but no."

After declining she looks down, as though ashamed. He can't help but recall his awful accusations from two weeks ago, when they had stood arguing in his kitchen and his desperation had turned to anger. Suddenly, he wishes more than ever that he could take back what he said. Instead of pushing her further, he rests a hand over top of hers. "Well, just know that if you change your mind you will have my vote of confidence."

"Thank you," she answers again quietly, her eyes downcast, though he could see how they still peeked over at him, questioning whether he would really drop the subject.

"And speaking of projects, one of us should probably give Christina a call."

"I will," Tris volunteers as she stands from her place on the sofa, seemingly grateful for the distraction.

"Great," he replies, failing to mention how Christina might still be slightly angry with him given that he'd ditched her only a couple of days ago. He holds out his cell phone in offering, making a mental note to get Tris her own sometime soon. She walks away then, making her way down the hall toward his, or perhaps more accurately, their bedroom. "Hey Tris," Tobias calls out before she's gone entirely.

"Hm?" she questions, turning to face him again.

When he looks up, Tobias can't help but notice the walls behind her, the way they'd been covered with all sorts of art. The decorators had covered tons of space in his apartment with pictures and paintings, the kind of art that probably cost more than Tobias could even imagine. They'd come to him beforehand, asking if there were any photographs he wanted hanging on his walls. Aside from a single picture of his mother that Tobias didn't particularly want on display in his hallway, Tobias had nothing. The space instead had been filled with expensive, meaningless art. Most of it he ignored, some of it he took down.

All he can think now, however, is that a dozen photographs of Tris could cover his walls and it still wouldn't be enough. His affection for her is boundless. "I meant what I said, about the job. I know you could do really amazing things."

Her eyes are sad but her smile is wide as she nods once. "Maybe you're right," she says simply with a shrug, turning to walk away. Her disappearing figure as she enters the bedroom does not cause him anxiety or fear, because for once he feels secure that she is not going to walk away from him.

Left with his own thoughts, Tobias is surprised to discover he's starting to experience a brand new feeling: confidence. Having Tris enter his life has left him feeling like he may finally be able to enter into an entirely new future. One that he could create all on his own.